coming his way. have a great day. 8:55 prime time tonight, eastern time we have the debate are now. full reaction and fallout throughout the morning. who knows what they say tonight. either way we'll have it for you. >> fox definitely the place to be. have a great day, everybody. bye-bye. >> thank you, jamie and bill brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: americans with a big decision to make, counting the hours before the first debate, the first big one. the president and romney on the same stage. each man ready to tell voters why they should be the next leader of the free world. we have live team fox coverage. you heard the pilots, say, gregg, sit back and enjoy the flight. gregg: oh, yeah. jenna: you can't really do that if your seat is sliding all over the place. gregg: you get to change seats. jenna: or turn around or go back to where you came from. the very latest on american airlines latest debacle. two weeks into fall, old man

winter is already flexing his muscles. the latest what could be a powerful winter storm. it is only october. what's going on? it's all "happening now." jenna: well, it is less than five weeks before election day. we're now just hours away from the first presidential debate. we're glad you're with us, everybody. i'm jenna lee. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott. we're live in the swing state of colorado as denver gets ready to host the very first face-to-face for the two candidates. president obama, governor mitt romney preparing to make their cases to tens of millions of americans expected to watch on television tonight. in the meantime, "the daily caller" releasing a videotape from 2007 where then candidate, barack obama, suggested racism played a role in the government's response to hurricane katrina. now the reverend jeremiah write was in the audience at

the time. mr. obama went on to praise the controversial pastor, calling him a friend and a great leader. mike emanuel is live in washington with all of this. and, mike, some of then candidate barack obama's remarks deal with trying to help poor people. how did he handle that topic? >> reporter: well, gregg on the video senator obama at the time seas we don't need to build more highways out in the suburbs. he said there should be investment in minority owned businesses in our neighborhoods in front of that group of black ministers. here is mr. obama on assisting the poor. >> they may need help with basic skills, how to shop, how to show up to work on time. how to wear the right clothes. how to act appropriately in an office. we have to help them get there. >> reporter: about hurricane katrina then senator obama said the federal government doesn't care as much about the people down in new orleans of the he says the poverty and hopelessness there were long before the hurricane and katrina pulled back the curtain for all the world to see, gregg.

gregg: well, mike, it sounds like the obama campaign's response to this is to say, hey, you know what? old news, right? >> reporter: that's right. the obama campaign is calling it a distraction and accusing allies of mitt romney recirculating video of a 2007 event that was open to the press. the press secretary for the obama campaign offered this assessment a short time ago. >> desperate attempt to change the subject from a video in which mitt romney wrote off half of the american people, are circulating a video that was covered by the campaign press corps at that time. >> reporter: but in the early days of the 2008 campaign in this case, june 2007, long before the primaries, most of the news coverage of that event was based on prepared remarks, not a transcript. much of what is getting so much attention right now appears to have been ad-libbed. gregg? gregg: mike emanuel live in washington. thanks very much. let's get more on this from charlie hirt, who is a columnist for "the washington times." charlie,

good to see you. mr. obama, and i read the transcript. i watched the tape. he never specifically blames racism for the failed assistance in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. but does he imply it? >> yeah. i think absolutely, gregg, he definitely implies it. that campaign four years ago which i covered for the "new york post" at the time, was a, you know, it was a brilliant campaign. he was so careful to be sure to never suggest, every in, it was never a divisive campaign. he never allowed any hint of racism accusations to ever creep into any of his messages. he was very careful to sort of present a, himself as a healer and unifier. in this speech, which was clearly not one that was very widely covered. it was before he really took off as a major candidate and people started taking him

really seriously is the opposite of that. it is very divisive. whether talking about blaming the response to katrina on racism or at least suggesting that very clearly, or talking about our neighborhoods and our people versus their neighborhoods versus their neighborhoods and their people, talking about cities and suburbs. this is very divisive speech and would have distanced themselves from it if had gotten attention four years ago. gregg: he also lavished enormous praise on the reverend jeremiah wright who himself made numerous racially incendiary speeches. any fallout from that or is that old news too? >> clearly obviously the campaign is going to suggest that it's old news and, you know, what he said there, and also the tone in which he speaks and the cadence and his accent and everything is clearly something very different from what ever hear out of the rose garden or anything like that. also words he has about reverend wright are exact

opposite what says a year later when he denounces the church and leaves his church there. gregg: right. >> i think that it's that sort of disonance what we hear one place and what we hear in another, way he speaks in one place and speak in another, that could be very disconcert fog are a lot of people who got behind him because he was not going to sort of be this divisive figure. gregg: now, charlie, there's another clip. this is from yesterday and this is vice president joe biden, and he basically admits in front of this audience and television cameras that the middle class has been buried under the last four years. of course under an obama administration. and then the response from his challenger, the vice-presidential candidate, paul ryan. take a listen. >> all kidding aside, with all the boos, we can stop all the malarkey, this is deadly ernest, man. this is deadly earnest. how they can justify, how

they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years. >> vice president biden just today, said that the middle class over the last four years has been quote, buried. we agree. that means we need to stop digging by electing mitt romney the next president of the united states! [cheers and applause] gregg: republicans didn't waste anytime trying to utilize the biden remark, did they? >> we'll be hearing a lot about that over the next couple weeks. and i can assure you the white house wishes they could reverse time and get biden to say something, anything different from that. but you know, for those us in the press that is the nice thing about joe biden. he is always sort of ad-libbing and giving us great things to write about. gregg: that updates the biden gaffe clock that the rnc always run on their website. paul ryan seems to have

recalculated the infamous 47% remark that, hess running mate uttered. take a listen to this. >> today, 70% of americans get more benefits from the federal government in dollar value than they pay back in taxes. so you could argue we're already past that tippingpoint. the good news is, survey after survey, poll after poll, still shows that we are a center-right, 70-30 country. 70% of the americans want the american dream. they believe the in the american idea. only 30% want the welfare state. what that tells us at least half of those people currently in that category are there not of their wish or their will. gregg: is this doubling down on the entitlement dependency argument? i know parenthetically our own "fox news poll" found 63% of the americans who indeed agree with the

argument that too many folks in america are dependent on the government? >> i think absolutely. i think part of the reason why that tape from paul ryan is not all that surprising is that because of the comments that mitt romney made about the 47%. but whatever, i think that the larger point is that it's not going to be all that shocking because most americans actually agree there is this sort of, we have a problem with entitlements in this country. and we have a problem with welfare dependency and people getting hooked on it. it is not because it hurts people that pay taxes. it hurts people trapped, enslaved in that terrible sort of, form of life. gregg: all right. >> and that's the concern. and so, i would be sort of surprised to see if thatçó really sort of moves the needle too much in terms of voters. gregg: we'll wait and see. charlie hirt of "the washington times." good to see you, charlie. >> thanks, gregg. jenna: what is happening now, president obama getting ready for tonight's showdown in a resort in nevada before heading to denver in a few

hours for his first debate governor mitt romney. senior white house foreign affairs correspondent, wendell goler is live at the white house. wendell, as we understand it the romney and the obama campaigns plan to fact check each other in realtime tonight. does that mean we'll need fact check, for the fact checkers? i mean how is that going to work? >> reporter: you need a computer in addition to your tv, jenna. campaigns want viewers to watch the debate on tv and log onto the campaign sites or twitter accounts where each side challenges opponents answers as they're giving. hear is the president's deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter on mitt romney's plans to cut income tax rates. >> the only way he gives the wealthy a big tax cut by deducking deductions for mortgages and. that would raise taxes for $2,000. if they have a different calculation they haven't shared it yet. >> reporter: get the

democrat's view at barack obama.com,/debate or republican view at debate debates.mitt romney.com. jenna: we'll have computers up and ready to go. what are the republicans predicting? >> reporter: like the democrats they're building up their opponent in order to lower the bar for mitt romney noting the president is accomplished public speaker though that may be something different than being a good debater. and they expect his debate answers to follow his campaign speeches. republican national committee chairman reince priebus wrote in an op-ed in the "denver post" this morning, quote, unable to defend his record, president obama will make excuses and he will spend the debate dishonestly attacking governor romney, exactly what he has been doing at campaign rallies and on the airwaves for months now. we can expect mr. romney to hammer home the increase in the national debt and the stubbornly high jobless rate and to ascertificate mr. obama had the chance but failed to fix them. jenna? jenna: we'll watch for that tonight. wendell, thank you very much. we are your election headquarters and only place,

only place you need to be for tonight's big debate. tune in at 8:55 eastern for complete coverage and analysis headed by our own bret baier and megyn kelly. wendell mentioned you need a computer ready. we have interactive coverage with harris fulg faulkner and rick folbaum. gregg: we goat it covered. as millions of voters make their presidential picks ahead of election day there is new concern about absentee ballots and the potential for voter fraud. jenna: what happens to all the ballots when they're early? where are they kept? eric shawn will join us for that. new information on a big story we brought you yesterday. those seats somehow coming loose on american airlines planes. why did it happen and who is to blame? rick folbaum has an update for us and the very latest on all of that. gregg: a dangerous al qaeda terrorist. some call his family the bin ladens of canada. why he could soon be a free man on the loose.

gregg: new information on a dramatic story we brought you yesterday. rows of seats on three american airlines flights, suddenly coming loose, separated on the floor in midair. rick folbaum with latest on the investigation. rick? >> reporter: the president of american airlines parent company says it has been a very challenging couple of weeks for his company. few would argue with that, especially his passengers who have been faced with

those wobbly seats you mentioned smoke filled cabins, canceled flights. the country's third biggest airline filed for bankruptcy protection ten months ago an analysts say it is slowly, slowly starting to turn a profit again. but these latest headlines could steer regular customers to competing carriers like united and delta. seems likely that the point is finally getting across to american's pilots who have been threatening to strike. some have already accused pilots making trouble by coordinating sick calls where dozens of pilots call out sick on the same day, forcing flights to be canceled. reports overnight were that the pilots are ready to go back to the bargaining table and hold off on a vote that could have authorized a strike. deal with pilots would only solve one problem for american airlines. safety concerns are another matter all together. still a dispute over who last worked on some rows of seats in the airline's fleet of 757s. these are the seats that were not bolted down properly. part of that maintenance work is apparently farmed

out to a contractor as a way to save money for the airline. and the maintenance workers union is furious with the airline for saying it was those union workers who were responsible for the seat problems. the union is blaming the outside contractor. no surprise there. lump all of this in with the fact that a london bound flight out of chicago had to make an emergency landing in ireland because of smoke in the cabin. american airlines is clearly an airline with an uphill climb as it tries to remain relevant in the is airline business. back to you. gregg: rick folbaum, thanks. rick. jenna: big concerns today of a possible weak link in the early voting civil. millions of voters will send in their picks before november 6. in fact 10 states already have voting underway but there are concerns about who gets to handle the ballots and how to prevent possible voter fraud. eric sean has more from new york. eric. >> reporter: jenna, be a sent tee ballots are where you mail in your vote and a way for your voice to be heard if you don't vote in person on election day. the number of absentee

ballots are growing. look at the facts. out of over 90 million voters in 2010, the last federal election, more than 14 million used absentee ballots. that is 15% of the electorate according to federal sta tick it is. bergen county, new jersey, is one typical place where they use a lot of absentee ballots. they expect to handle 40,000 of them out of half a million voters this november. john hogan is the county clerk. he says there is rigorous proper procedure that voflz democrat and republican firms to insure the integrity of absentee ballots. >> our people get the information. do verification process and the ballot is sent out in a complete packet to instructions. that ballot it returned to the board of elections which counts and does another verification process to make sure it is the correct person. >> reporter: the ballots are kept lock and key and secure 24 hour guarded room with

protection with complete restricted access. look at this place in connecticut. that is big steel door where they keep the absentee ballots in cage. you can't even get there. others count them before election day. others on or after the election. some election veterans say absentee ballots are easiest way to commit voter fraud. prosecutions so far in at least 10 states. >> board of elections people are overwhelmed during time of the an election and when they get the paperwork, from, in the mail or from people requesting an absentee, they sometimes don't have the time to compare the signature on the application to the signature on file and when that occurs, an absentee goes out that's illegal. >> reporter: in one new york case politicians totally made up excuses and voted fake absentee ballots as real votes. another one in arkansas past couple weeks. absentee ballots cast for an

opposing candidate, guess what? prosecutors said they were simply ripped up and thrown away. if you suspect voter fraud or problems at the polls where you live we want to know about it. voter fraud add foxnews.com is our address. jenna: great examples there, eric. thank you. gregg: all right. some new details to tell you about in the deadly attack on our consulate in libya. what government sources now say the obama administration knew just hours after the murder of four americans in benghazi. plus we're hours away of course from the very first presidential debate. what the latest polls are now showing and as we head into what could be a make-or-break night for both campaigns.

jenna: right now some new details emerging in the

murders of four americans at the u.s. consulate in libya. government sources now saying within hours of thatattan station received about a dozen intelligence reports suggesting that militants connected to al qaeda were involved in that attack. now despite those reports, top u.s. intelligence officials spent nearly two weeks claiming the attack was spontaneous while playing down the involvement of militant groups. ambassador john bolton is former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and fox news contributor. big picture here. what do you think the cost is to the united states on the world stage that we're continuing to discuss this infighting who knew what when and not going out and getting the people that committed this act? >> well, i think it shows that there's desorganization within the state department, within the administration, about exactly what happened and i think that is a signal of vulnerability potentially at other embassies in the middle east or around the world. i think the consequence we

need most here we need to find the people who actually perpetrated the attack and either eliminate them or get them in custody and start questioning them. that's potentially on the way. of course the administration is leaking out today in the press that they're about to do that, another security violation while we're on the subject. but certainly the way the administration has handled itself in the aftermath of this tragedy has not covered it with glory. jenna: how would we appropriately go and get these people whoever they are and how should we do it so that we send a message that this is unacceptable? we will not stand for the murder of our ambassador in foreign lands? >> well i think if we had adequate intelligence we would be in the hunt right now and we may well be. this is not a law enforcement matter. the fb i-team still has not made it to benghazi. i'm sure they bring valuable forensic skills. this is not a law enforcement matter. this is not like robbing a bank.

this is an act of terrorism and ought to be treated the way we treated the global war on terrorism until the obama administration decided that the war was over. i think that kind of aggressive intelligence work is what we need. unless we have so blinded ourselves by misreading the situation that we don't have the intelligence capabilities. i have to say i'm troubled by that possibility. jenna: let's talk about the misreading potentially of this situation. sometimes describes what we've seen in public conversation about what happened in benghazi as incomplete. some others have described it as purely misleading. how do we know the difference and why does that matter? >> well i don't think we know enough yet to be able to jump one way or the other but the way the administration handled it so far i think is consistent with one of two high path sees. number one, it was a cover-up because it was politically inconvenient to acknowledge that al qaeda in libya was still strong and the situation there was

calm. the other possibility is just being blinded by ideology, being unable to acknowledge that the threat was out there. maybe by not having adequate intelligence beforehand. not just in libya but in cairo, and yemen and tunisia and some of the other places where our people were in danger. that second explanation to me is more troubling a cover-up at least acknowledges that you think you know what the reality is and you're just trying to avoid making it public. being blind to reality because of ideology is crippling because it means almost by definition you can not formulate a policy response. jenna: so that question about whether or not our intelligence gathering is good enough right now is a bigger question. we'll continue to explore. really quick, ambassador we noticed headlines coming out of iran. apparently protests are happening in the streets because the currency there has taken a dive. some have suggested this is because of the sanctions and this is the effect that we do want, unrest in the streets as a way to force the regime there to abandon

its nuclear program. how do you read what's happening in iran right now? >> well i think the demonstrations are a result of the collapse of the iranian currency vis-a-vis the dollar. making it essentially unconvertable and, thus making it difficult, if not impossible for iranians to buy a lot of imported goods but what the government will do in effect impose capital controls. you can live with an unconvertable currency. the soviet union lived with catastrophic economic policies and an unconvertable ruble for 70 years before it finally collapsed. jenna: wow, that is perspective. that is amateur video out of iran today. ambassador bolton, rawls nice to have your insights. thank you so much. >> thank you. gregg: get out your popcorn and your jellybeans the first presidential debate is just hours away as america races toward the so-called fiscal cliff. our, is our debt soaring so much, so high that the u.s. economy has already slid back into a recession?

what might mean in the race for the white house. neil cavuto will join us to talk about it. also, a look at the debate stage in denver. what does each candidate have to do and avoid doing to make the best impression on millions of americans tuning in? mary katharine ham and juan williams standing by for a fair and balanced debate.

jenna: well the economy and jobs expected to dominate the first presidential debate and tonight's showdown in colorado follows disappointing economic indicators including one, gdp, that shows very little economic growth. also this debate occurs just two days before we get the latest reading on the job market. that will come on friday. some analysts are asking now if the u.s. has actually tipped back into a recession? of course we won't know that for a few months. neil cavuto, senior vice president of business news and anchor of you're world

and -- "your world" and "cavuto on business". >> hi, jenna. jenna: some suggest that the jobs report tomorrow could be more important than anything we see tonight. what do you think of that. >> the showing surprising strength in the private sector, adp, the folks who do paychecks and the like up a surprising one 162,000 jobs. sometimes, not all the time, jenna, as you might recall that can be a precursor to the general jobs report. we had another strong number out today, ism, manufacturing index. i don't want to get wonky or geeky. obviously you value keeping your viewers awake. suffice it to say the data collectively, the president will argue is going his way. mitt romney will argue no, it is not. these are aberrations. that in lies debate in this debate. who is right? is this economy coming back or is it not? it could be a head fake.

mitt romney wants to sell the head fake notion and barack obama that the trend is his friend. jenna: can we be geeky together for a moment here neil? >> absolutely. jenna: mitt romney said something about yesterday his tax plan that was new to us. i would like to play a little bit of that sound and we can talk about it, in case it comes up tonight it will be important for our viewers to know. take a listen. >> you could do something for instance, as an option everybody will get up to $17,000 deduction. use your charitable deduction or home mortgage deduction or others, health care deduction. you can fill that buckket, the $17,000 bucket that way and higher income people might have a lower number. jenna: that $17,000 deduction bucket, this is kind of the first time we heard about this. >> right, right. jenna: the average family takes about $1,000 of deductions on their taxes. so looks like the average family would not be affected by this but the rich would have more income to be taxed. what do you think about this

idea, neil? what comes to mind, when you hear it first? >> first thing i'm all for simplifying the tags code. the devil is in the details of course. when you simplify it to the point he did just there, even if you were to lower taxes by 20% across the board, you have to crunch the numbers and folks at home would have to crunch numbers. if i'm limited to $17,000 in deductions. what the governor is say, talked to me about this in the past that would be a combination of all deductions. in other words you could combine, charity, mortgage interest deduction that sort of thing but can't exceed $17,000. if wealthy folks are writing off anywhere from 150, 250, $300,000 depending on charity and the size of their mortgage and all you can quickly see even lower tax rate doesn't prevent you from in the end paying higher tax. >> sure. >> mitt romney might argue that was sort of like what ronald reagan was getting at in 1986 when he closed a lot of tax loopholes and got rid

of a lot of credits and allowances prevented some not paying any taxes at all, jenna, to pay taxes. ironically president obama seized on that reagan initiative to interpret it as a sign ronald reagan was for hiking taxes on rich. he wasn't. he was for closing look holes that prevent americans from paying. mitt romney's pitch seems to be, look i think everyone should contribute something and the push for fair, simpler tax code, get rid of a lot of these deductions, limit a lot of these deductionses. drop a lot of credits. nix some of the special louances. it will be cleaner and easier to understand and do. you might chase income hiding under the rocks back as taxable revenue. all benefit. but of course i think a lot of upper middle class, upper class folks heard that and said, whoa, sparky, i think you just raised my taxes. so he is going to have to answer to that tonight. but i think he is hoping to win over people who

heretofore thought he was just a pal to the rich. jenna: i've been looking for extra income hiding under the rocks. i have yet to find it anywhere, neil. >> there you go. jenna: tonight, 8:00 p.m. eastern time for fbn and your coverage there. we'll look forward to that, neil thank you very much. >> thank you. gregg: just ahead of tonight's presidential debate the race is tightening. president obama, governor mitt romney have their work cut out for them. in the final stretch of the campaign as the race narrows nationally and in some key battleground states. "nbc news-wall street journal poll" finding president obama is in the lead now with 49% vote compared with governor romney 46%. that is down from the five point lead the president had earlier in the month. mary katharine ham, editor-at-large for hotair.com. fox news contributor. juan williams is fox news political analyst. he is out in denver. good to see you both. mary katherine, the president, however has a commanding lead among women. why is that? what is he going to do about

it? what is romney going to do about it and is romney going to try to address that tonight? >> well i think in 2010 there was a swing towards republicans among independents and among women. the republicans actually won them in 2010. i think that freaks democrats out rightly and they went on the rampage on this messaging, you heard the war on women theme all summer long which was mostly fabricated and, i think it had some success. they have been worried about, mitt romney doesn't have to win women. what he has to do is peel off some of obama's voters. they were rightly trying to shore that up. i think that is what he is up against. but i think showing them on the debate stage, look, i'm a guy who is confident, who is smart, who can discuss the eschews. i think you can make some progress with those undecided women. gregg: juan, want to show you a couple of swing state polls. these are important states. we're talking about florida and virginia. now the president had a decent, one could say sizable lead, not anymore.

in florida, according to this latest "wall street journal" poll, the president has a one point lead in the sunshine state. in virginia, a two-point lead. so what's going on? why has the gap narrowed? >> well i think you're going to see it go back and forth, gregg but, i think the important point here for president obama is that he maintains the lead. for mitt romney, i think that the emphasis is that he has got to do better in those states. if you look at the rest of the swing states, particularly ohio, you see the president really extending that lead. so in order for mitt romney to have any route to the 270 electoral votes he will need, he has to have some chance to win florida. really just so critical for him. and by the way, i just wanted to say, mary katharine ham said this war on women is all fabrication. i can't believe she said that. if you stop and look at republican platform. no exception for rape and incest. if you think about what todd

akin had to say in missouri. think about moments and things, both ryan and romney plan to do --. gregg: todd akin does not stand for the republican party. you know that. he doesn't represent the republican. >> started with planned parenthood. some taxpayers don't want to pay for everyone's birth control and planned parenthood. i don't think that was true. gregg: we have to move on. voters, you know for several years tended to prefer split power in washington, d.c. take a look at this poll now, again "the wall street journal" just out, for the first time in the journal's polling going back to the mid 1980s, majority of voters, 52% pulled their support behind one party rule? is that a sign americans are absolutely fed up with partisanship ship and gridlock and is that kind of a slap at republican party? >> there is sign of some of that. also as the poll points out,

this happens a little closer to a general election because both sides, both sides the partisans harden up say we want our guys in power of everything. but i would remind everyone democrats had power for two years. they had at one point a filibuster-proof senate and obama didn't get a whole lot done and he complains about republican obstructionism. romney has a couple areas where he has remained strong, for instance, on federal spending and dealing with the deficit and debt. they're hitting that in ads. this is something people are genuinely worried about and he can connect to the economy because people in their everyday lives. gregg: juan, as you know unemployment is still above 8%. gdp is a comatose 1.3%. brain-dead on life-support. we have a debt that is crushing of $16 trillion. more americans than ever before, 47 million, are on food stamps. gasoline prices have doubled in the four years that president obama has been in office. i mean, what is he going to

say tonight when surely he will be asked about that? >> oh, gregg, i think there is lots of positives to offer. gdp clearly now is far in excess where we were when he took office. if you look at wall street, you look at the nasdaq --. gregg: juan, under reagan it 7% in the reagan recovery. it is 1.3% right now? >> again, what you see is compared to where he took office, gregg. it is much better. economy, if you ask the american consumer right now, they have a much better attitude about where we're going, more upbeat and as you just heard from neil cavuto, you look at hiring picture right now, things look very positive. gregg: all right. got to leave it at that. mary katharine ham, juan williams, out of time. got to give you the hook. good to see you both. juan, enjoy the sun sheen out there in denver. thanks very much. >> man, i'll tell you it is a beautiful day. gregg: beautiful place to be. love denver. take care.

jenna: his family is known as the bin ladens of canada. he was considered one of the most dangerous detainees at gitmo but this convicted terrorist is not there anymore. soon he could be a free man. even though he was found guilty of killing a u.s. special-ops medic during a deadly ambush in afghanistan. we'll talk live to another soldier hurt during that very same firefight. [ male announcer ] are you considering a new medicare plan? then you may be looking for help in choosing the right plan for your needs.

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unfolding right now centering on a former gitmo detainee, convicted and originally sentenced to 40 years behind bars. but the al qaeda terrorist whose family is known and referred to the bin ladens of canada could soon be a free man. his name is omar khadr. he was 15, 16 years old first taken to gitmo. one of the youngest prisoners ever held there. here he is two years ago after a military jury convicted him of war crimes. even as jurors deliberated the charges against him, pentagon prosecutors had already struck a plea bargain, a deal at the, really the direction of the obama administration. and that allowed for khadr's transfer to a canadian civilian prison. that happened this past weekend. now there's word his lawyers will press for his parole in just a few months. that means he could be out and a free man in a year. khadr is known as gitmo to be a dangerous high-risk terrorist. he was convicted killing a man on your screen, a u.s.

special-ops forces medic in afghanistan. christopher sears was just 28 years old when he was murdered in a deadly ambush, leaving behind a wife and two young children. sergeant lane morris was partially blinded during that same firefight. he described what happened in the attack. take a listen. >> only thing we know for sure that was after the firefight was over, and we went in to collect intelligence, omar was waiting, the only person who survived that firefight. he was waiting and when u.s. personnel got close enough, he popped up, through a hand grenade, shot his pistol and, that was the hand grenade that killed chris sears. jenna: sergeant layne morris joins us with reaction to the latest news. sergeant morris, thank you. >> thanks for having me. jenna: this was not unexpected. we knew it was coming. we heard about the plea agreement. we received very little explanation why the plea agreement was made. according to the reports in canada the canadians didn't

want this guy. what is your reaction from his move to canada, the canadian prison system? >> well i guess it doesn't surprise me. the obama administration has been trying to shut down guantanamo since president obama took office and when they couldn't get that done through congress, they just simply changed tactics and now they're just trying to get everybody out of there and shut it down that way. so i wasn't surprised they had made a deal to send omar to canada. canned at that -- canada really didn't want him but didn't feel like they had a choice in the matter. so that's where we're at. jenna: those met with this man, forensic psychiatrists, for example, describe him as highly dangerous. say he has no regret for what he did. they call him a rock star at gitmo. what kind of risk does he pose now that he is number one, out of gitmo and number two, could be paroled within maybe a year? >> yes. omar khadr is not done. he is never expressed any

regret. on the contrary, when he is feeling depressed or feeling down, he warms himself with the thought of killing chris speer. he is very open about that. this young man is a confirmed, a dedicated,. >> gnawed -- jihadist. he has been in guantanamo for 10 years and done nothing to prepare himself for life in western society. he still has an 8th grade education. he has, however, memorized koran. and he is the acknowledged leader, the worst of the worst, 160 worst guys we've got in guantanamo and they think omar khadr is a rock star. he is the acknowledged leader. this is not somebody who we should be releasing to the public. regardless of the punitive aspects of killing somebody, just the security aspect of having a known and declared and dedicated, unrepentant terrorist, running around in western society, omar is not

done. we will all regret the day that omar khadr is loose. jenna: sergeant morris, someone that served our country, you're now retired and a family. what are we doing? how do you make sense of it? >> i don't make sense of it, other than, other than the obama administration is just trying to make little problems go away, and, you know, when you need to appeal to that left-wing base, closing gitmo one way or another, i think a lot of people thought that he had given up on closing gitmo but i think he just changed tactics. this is all, is behind the scenes as possible. you know, you transfer him on the weekend. no announcement. no, no explanation. just quietly on the weekend ship another one out. jenna: sergeant morris, this bears a longer conversation and we tend to continue to have it. thank you for the time today. it is a story we'll continue watch and we appreciate your invaluable perspective.

>> thanks for having me, jenna lee. gregg: right now the hunt is on to bring the killers of a u.s. border patrol agent to justice after he and another agent were attacked along the u.s. mexican border. what we're learning about the latest investigation imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

gregg: right now new details about a series of deadly explosions in syria's largest city. three car bombs ripping through a government controlled area of aleppo killing dozens of people. [gunfire] well the intended targets appear to be syrian army officers and assad regime security forces. leland vittert is live in our middle east bureau with the latest. leland? >> reporter: gregg, this really shows how sophisticated these attacks are becoming. these bombings were

sophisticated on number of levels, happening within minutes of each other, well-coordinated. not only that, the bombers were able to get in a very secure part of aleppo near the syrian headquarters. lastly the bombs themselves were well-made and clearly devastating in their effect. images coming from syrian state tv shows the same kind of damage to full blocks of aleppo in the government controlled areas. same kind of damage we're seeing in the rebel controlled areas coming from those deadly attacks with certainian -- syrian artillery. this points much more to jihadist movements rather than homegrown rebel fighters, fighters coming out of places like libya and iraq with expertise and also al qaeda linkage what we're seeing here in syria. this fits much more with the syrian government narrative going forward which complicates, things, gregg. you know it used to be assad evil, rebels good. now this makes things much more complicated enside syria and harder to end violence. back to you.

gregg: leland vittert live in jerusalem. leland, thanks very much. president obama, governor mitt romney getting in some last minute cramming before tonight's big debate in denver. just like college and high school, right? jenna: do you think it helps? gregg: i think it really does. have to get as much information in your brain as you can to spit it out tonight when you need it. one of them will win the election in november. what can we expect when they take the stage? there it is for their first showdown. we'll have a preview of the crucial debate coming up.

>> reporter: rick folbaum in the "happening now" now control room. brand-new stories we are working on in the next 15 minutes. voters in florida may want to leave themselves extra time on election day. ballot proposals that could cause massive delays and confusion in one of the race's key states. brand-new information on the man who may have been behind the deadly terror attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. that straight ahead. an explosive report on the shooting of a u.s. government vehicle in mexico city. were corrupt mexican police

officers purposely targeting american officials? all of that and breaking news the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. >> reporter: one race, two candidates, three debates and the night everyone has been waiting for. i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott. jenna: the night is finally here. i'm jenna leave. welcome to the second hour of "happening now." now is certainly a big night.ntr romney face-to-face for the first time on stage with an estimated 60 million americans watching, just about the same amount that is watching us right now. >> reporter: a little shy of that. jenna: a little shy of that. most voters have already made up their minds. the candidates are out to win over a shrinking number of undecideds. the key for president obama to sit out his narrow lead without a mishap while governor romney apparently needs to shakeup the rape.

we'll see what our fox news political analyst brit hume thinks about that. what are you watching for in the debate tonight? >> reporter: i mostly will be watching romney. i think this is a much more important event for him and the president. the president is i think a known quantity to most people. he would have to do something quite remarkable it seems to me to make people adjust their view of him in any meaningful way. romney is a relative newcomer to the scene although he's been doing this for a while and trying to get people's attention. he'll have more of it tonight than perhaps he's had. he is the one who is behind in the race although by not a grit deal if the polls are to be believed. he needs to make a difference don't and get people to see him differently, to get people to believe that the things that he's prescribing he'll do and that they'll work and the things that the obama team have been saying about him are unfair or untrue or whatever. he's got it seems to meet larger tas an task and opportunity.

jenna: you've seen a few debates in your day. do good debaters make good presidents? is this an actual indication if sun is a good leader. >> it tells you something more about their ability to campaign than to govern. it tells you something about their temperament, their character, perhaps. so i think, you know, they are useful guides for voters. it doesn't really tell you what they are going to do about the roads bill or how well they'll handle the first crisis that comes along. being able to think on your feet is useful in debates, it's not all that important for a president who is after all going to make decisions in the oval office in an atmosphere of where he has time to consider things. so they are not a perfect calibration of what kind of president they'll be but they are useful. jenna: let's talk a little bit about likability. you say you're going to watch

mitt romney. we've had a discussion of style versus substance and what matters most. what do you think about the likability argument and whether or not romney needs to portray that tonight? >> we've been hearing about that for a longtime. i don't think that is as important as a lot of other commentators think. it's useful for a candidate or president to be seen as likable by the public. people will be more prone to vote to you if they like you. i think in this election the conditions in the country are such the public sentiment about the track the country on is so strongly negative what i think people are looking for is somebody not so much that they'd like but they believe can make change in the right direction. and, you know, they don't have to love the candidate. i don't think this is a race where the republican nominee needs to be ronald reagan, but i think it's a candidate that needs to be convincing people that he can do the job, that what he's talking about makes sense, and that the prescriptions that he's laid out

will be the cure. and that's a little different from likability. jenna: a final thought, what do you think is the one mistake that romney simply cannot make tonight to stay in the race, to stay competitive? >> reporter: well, you know, if he falls in the orchestra pit it's a problem. [laughter] >> reporter: look -- jenna: we hope we don't do that on a regular basis just having to walk and talk together, right? >> reporter: at my age i worry about that all the time. i walk with care. debates can be unpredictable, and sometimes the moment that comes out of a debate is often not planned, in other words, it's not somebody's talking point that hits the spot or some pre-planned answer, it's a spontaneous moment when they get either a question they don't expect, or they suddenly think of something to say. think of 1984 when walter mondale succeeded in easily winning i think on almost

anybody's card the first debate against ronald reagan with with a question reagan didn't handle well on social security and mondale nailed him. it looked like he would have momentum although not much, because he was way behind. reagan used the comment, i'm not going to use my opponent's youth and inexperience against him. it was a clever comment, everybody laughed. i saw mondale, i cause covering him that year. when he laughed, an was good hyphenated about it he was crying on the inside because he knew then that the gipper had one upped him on that and won the debate. that is the thing that got played on televisions for days and days after that. the moment that gets all the tv coverage in the aftermath which a lot of people see, maybe more than in aggregate that see the debate can be the decisive fact tpher how the debate is red. jenna: we'll watch for your call on which candidate is crying on

the inside with any comments tonight. we'll watch for those moments. thank you as always. >> reporter: thank you, jenna. >> reporter: cover the orchestra pit. jenna: right? you never know. >> reporter: bombshell allegations against the obama administration regarding the security situation in libya in the weeks leading up to that deadly attack on our consulate. according to brand-new documents the administration allegedly ignored repeated calls to increase security there. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge joins us live from washington. >> reporter: just a short time ago a letter has been sent to the house government oversight committee, they are holding the hearing next week on the security lapses at the consulate and it's from the secretary of state hillary clinton and she's asking them not to reach any final determination about the attacks until the state department's own internal review by the accountability review board also known as the arp is complete. and that is reportedly not expected now until after the election. that letter reads in part quote i intend to share the error of these findings and our response

with the congress and would encourage you to withhold any final conclusions about the benghazi attack until the committee can review the arb findings. a senior republican on the house oversight committee responding this morning that on the 10th day we'll hear testimony from whistle-blowers that there were calls for more security at the consulate but they were ultimately denied by officials here in washington and the congressman criticizing the administration's state of reliance on the f.b.i. investigation given agents are not in benghazi three weeks later. >> that area is so violent the f.b.i. cannot go in and conduct their investigation right now. i want you to imagine this -- this backdrop, that the area is too dangerous for the f.b.i., but it wasn't dangerous enough for this administration to increase security. i'd like to ask that and i plan on doing it next week. >> reporter: in addition to the new warnings, including documents obtained by fox we are getting more specifics about the attack. there is evidence fox is told that it was planned long before the 11th that it was not sudden or spontaneous, and

thrown together in a single day as the administration first claimed. >> we do know that over the course of time, that they had been looking for western targets. al-qaida in the maghreb had been looking for western targets. we think some of the planning was planned in the sense that when an opportunity arose, and we think some was specifically to a particular place. >> reporter: congressman rogers who has been consistently briefed on the investigation and the attack because he is chairman of the house intelligence committee told fox that there were also what he called kill or capture teams among the militants. so what we have shaping up is that there was a framework set between ansar alsharia and al-qaida in libya to attack the united states in benghazi and they were waiting for that moment which appears to be when the ambassador arrived. once again this is raising the fact that this was a a targeted

killing, not spontaneous in anyway. >> reporter: thank you very much. jenna: the search for a killer on the u.s.-mexico border. 30-year-old nicolas ivy and two other agents ambushed while on night patrol in the rugged arizona desert. ivy was killed instantly. >> this is obviously a shock to the family, and a tragic circumstance, but yet they have a faith and they are holding to their faith in their god, and they have a fit that this life is not all there is, and that there is a life to come, and they believe that families are forever. jenna: adam housley joins us live from los angeles. what is the latest on the investigation here? >> reporter: we've heard from a couple of dave sourcers across the border, mexican contacts, the mexicans still say they have two suspects in custody. u.s. agents while they agree they've heard the same reports have not been able too make contact to see if the two suspects are connected to the

shooting early yesterday morning. we know that the f.b.i. is involved, they are sending more agents down from the los angeles office. they have an area about a three or four square mile area all cordoned off as the investigation continues. this happened about five miles north of the border after a sensor went off. three agents responded as you mention heed, nicolas ivy was one. one of the other agents was not injured and a third agent was shot twice but the injuries are not life trepbgt. we've been told by investigators they believe at this hour this is part of the on going drug war that has spilled across our border. >> due to the time of day and the location that this occurred i believe, you know, we suspect that this is probably some type of narcotics trafficking event that these agents encountered, but at this time that would be speculative. >> reporter: now ivy is part of the horse team. i can tell you from being out with that horse team report in a report for fox it's something usually three or four agents on

horseback they respond to an area in a truck with the horses in the back. they take the horses out and ride two or three miles to where the sensors went off. they believe at this hour that's what happened here, but, again, they are still sorting all this information out. it's a vast, open area and there is a lot of information unknown at this hour as the investigation continues as well. jenna: we'll continue to keep their family in our thoughts and prayers today. thank you very much. more on that as we get it. we have to turn to fox news alert. the f.b.i. is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of an american terror suspect. f.b.i. agents believe this man on your screen left massachusetts in 2006 and may now be living in syria. he was indicted in 2009 for providing material support to al-qaida after trips to pakistan and yemen where he allegedly tried to get military training to kill american soldiers overseas. we are going to continue you to bring the latest developments as we get them. a wanted man today.

>> reporter: some shocking new evidence in the attack on a u.s. embassy vehicle by heavily armed federal police in mexico. the american embassy is calling this attack an ambush, and now there are strong signs that the occupants were star getted for assassination by a drug cartel. we'll tell you about. plus, governor romney will take the stage tonight as the challenger. coming up, what he needs to do, and who he has to win over. oh no, not a migraine now. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula.

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gregg: welcome back. tens of millions of americans expected to watch tonight's first presidential debate and one of the biggest challenges for governor mitt romney will be connecting with several key voting groups. according to the latest fox news latino poll 60% of latinos would

pick the democratic ticket right now, 30% would choose the republican nominee. meanwhile one columnist explains how governor romney can avoid lights out tonight. he says and this is a quote, mitt romney must make americans understand in the clearest of terms how he'll create jobs. he needs to finally take his bain experience and turn it into a plus. rick sanchez wrote that column for fox news latino. he's also a fox news contributor. great to see you, rib. not only that poll that we just put up on the screen. the "wall street journal" came out with a poll, the president has a 50-point lead among latinos, why is that. >> the first thing is that's just nothing more than a huge opportunity that has been missed. ao eights a big fat fast ball right across the plate and it just seems like governor romney has not been able to hit out of park. here you have a block of voters. a lot of people don't know this. gregg. 34% of hispanics who arrive in the united states consider

themselves conservative. that is higher than most americans who live in the united states. they over index when it comes to going church, they over index when it comes to values, they over index on work ethic. they are ideologically parallel to what mitt romney is trying to sell and yet he hasn't been able to bring them into the fold. reagan was at 37. mccain was at 31. mitt romney is now at 30 if you believe the wsj poll, which by the way is a small sample poll he's at 21. that is not just a problem, gregg, that is a huge missed opportunity. gregg: i wonder whether mitt romney hurt himself during a january debate, he riled a lot of latinos, with this remark, take a listen to this. >> the answer is selfdeportation, which is people decide that they could do better by going home because they can't find work here, because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here. gregg: selfdeportation. did he hurt himself with that?

>> he one upped himself he was speaking in los angeles at the u.s. hispanic chamber of commerce and said nobody will get amnesty under his administration. no one even asked him the question. again it's not a question as to what the answer is for the immigration reform problem that we have in this country, it's what are the words, what is the tone that you use? is it inspiring? is it inclusive, or does it kind of push people away? many latinos emailed me after that meeting immediately saying, can you believe what he said? they feel like it was more of a kick in the teeth than an embrace or hug which is what they've been looking for. gregg: the other thing is president obama has embraced the d.r.e.a.m. act, mitt romney opposes it. >> what president obama has done was late, it was a lately move. look, i write in my piece for fox news latino this week and i went and interviewed many hispanics living along the south and there are many of them and they say, you know, [spa]

speaking spanish. >> basically lots of promises but the inability to fulfill many of those promises. that's where we move into the job scenario which again i believe is a missed opportunity for mitt romney this far. gregg: interestingly, although the president is accused of being soft on cracking down on the border fence and illegal immigration, his increased deportation of criminals is actually at 89% since he took office. >> there is no question this president has not been able to fulfill in anyway any of the promises that he made earlier on in his administration. for romney tonight to be able to capitalize though he doesn't only have to talk about hispanic issues he has to talk about something which is important to all americans, whether they are hispanic or not, and that is jobs. and we found, and we're writing about it in this column i'd invite people to go see it on fox news latino, about the labor participation rate, you know, you and i talk about 8.1% being

the unemployment figure. this blows it away. we are now at 63.5% according to the bureau of labor statistics, that means 36.5% of americans are not working. you know, that is an absurd number, it's a number that needs to be addressed and what mitt romney needs to do is identify that number and make the american people understand how he can change it. like you and i at j school learned with concrete language, not with abstract oro make language. gregg: i skipped j school went straight to law school instead. rick sanchez great to see you as always. you can catch his column plus much more at foxnews.com/latino. jenna: don't worry i went to j school. >> columbia, baby. jenna: your legal guidance, greg is invaluable. every vote counts including yours, but the candidates will be working harder for your vote if you live in one of those key

swing states that gets all of the attention, like colorado where tonight's debate takes place. straight ahead what voters are looking for in this battleground state. new evidence that a vicious drug cartel may have ordered a bloody attack on a u.s. embassy vehicle in mexico the latest ahead. questions? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria.

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jenna: right now new details behind a shooting of a u.s. embassy vehicle by mexican federal police, that is right the police. according to a new report the police may have been targeting rick folbaum has more for us. >> this took mason august 24th. two c.i.a. officers wounded in

the attack their car shot up in mexico city. the shooters as you mentioned mechanics cal federal police officers. now reports that investigators believe the shooting may have been a targeted assassination attempt by officers loyal to one of mexico's brutal drug cartels. a u.s. official telling the "associated press" that the evidence is, quote, pretty dam strong, that the officers that shot at the u.s. embassy vehicle were tied to organized crime. mexico, of course, a very important u.s. ally so obviously there is a lot of sensitivity regarding this. the state department not commenting publicly. the mexican government says it is cooperating, working with the f.b.i. who is leading the investigation. 12 mexican officers have been detained, they are being held on house arrest. this was the third time in the last two years, jenna, that american personnel have been targeted and shot in mexico. as we get more we'll pass it along to you. jenna: what a story, rick, thank you. gregg: tonight's presidential

debate in denver is putting a key swing state squarely in the spotlight. president obama holds a slight edge in the state of colorado where nine electoral votes are up for grabs but the state is really looking a lot more competitive than it did in 2008 when candidate barack obama won the state by nine points over john mccain. let's take a look at the swing states here, and colorado in particular. the yellow of course are the battleground states. they are all in play. colorado in particular, their economy slightly above the national average, in terms of unemployment, 8.2%, average gas price $3.78, that is double from when the president took office. foreclosure rate is the 10th highest in the nation, one out of 617. and barack obama and mitt romney each have visited the state seven times. so, obviously, very important to their campaigns. 5million-plus population, nine electoral votes. the governor and both u.s.

senators are democratic, but there is a slight advantage to republicans in terms of registration. major industries, aerospace and energy, and here is the latest poll average "real clear politics," the president has roughly a 3-point edge. receive fan tubbs is cohost of colorado's morning news show on kola radio in denver. before the 2008 election republicans had won pretty consistently most of the contests, but independents there in colorado, one-third of the vote. give me a sense of what they care about and how they are leaning in this thing. >> good morning to you from denver. the economy is huge here. you mentioned the foreclosure rate which translates into how people are having jobs. the unemployment rate here is about 8.2%. it's stayed that way for the past, you know, several months or so, not really going anywhere to high or low from that.

srolz voters you mentioned a huge number of unaffiliated voters and they'll be watching tonight and whether or not they can be persuaded by either mr. obama or mr. romney. but they are very interested in this debate and i think a lot of people here in colorado will say, have your debate tonight, we'll make up our decision and then kind of leave us alone if you will. gregg: the university of colorado does something interesting every four years, they put together an economic model based on electoral stats and economic model state-by-state economic analysis. there it is on the screen. they predict mitt romney essentially in a blowout, 320 electoral votes to just 218 for president obama, i understand they going to update that now with more additional economic data in the month of september, but, wow, what about that? >> yeah, you know the republicans have done well as you mentioned in the past here in colorado, went for obama in

2008. but according to the research numbers, as you mentioned it could be a blowout. will that be the case? i just truly don't see in just talking from our audience on koa i don't see this will be a landslide either way. it's very tight, certainly within the margin of error. woman are being targeted here, gregg, very, very heavily by both sides. they spent more than $4 million just since august on television ads. 20% of col's population, hispanic voters. rom roll hamitt romney has made it very clear his father was born in mexico. his son craig is doing spanish language campaign ads. there is that niche, the middle class, the women and the hispanic vote that certainly mitt romney needs, and the president is no -- is no stranger to those groups either. he's been here and he'll be here tomorrow along with will i am.

gregg: the electoral model has accurately predicted the last 8 presidential elections and they pick romney, so we'll wait and see. steffan, t*ubs great to se tubbs. great to see you today. jenna: we haven't talked about one of the most important things about the candidates. gregg: which is? jenna: what they are going to wear. that is a big decision. gregg: they are going to wear a suit i guarantee that. jenna: we'll take a closer look at what candidates decide to wear. since 1980 the dominant choice is a red tie. it's been chosen 19 times. it didn't help john kerry win the white house back in 2004 you do se could see he had a red tie on. gregg: it wasn't fire engine red, that was his problem. jenna: maybe. blue was picked three times. 17 times candidates have gone for a striped look. we decided to put gregg to the test, here is gregg jarrett fashion plate. red is supposed to find of bring

those feelings, good feelings, positive feelings, lighten up your face a little bit. gregg: it's strong, old. jenna: that's what they say, they being the experts out there, whoever they are. there you are. gregg: blue softens an otherwise harsh personality. in other words, if mitt romney is really going to go on the attack the blue -- jenna: that's your advice. gregg: -- would offset a sense of, you know, being too hard on obama. jenna: we'll see what they go for tonight. maybe they don't pick either. gregg: i think the women like blue. he needs the woman vote. jenna: i'm going to ask you what our viewers like. tweet us and tell us what you think. gregg: nobody is going to go with yellow by the way, i predict that. jenna: big reveal in the next hour for you. also forget about hanging chads, this time florida voters will be hanging out at the polls for a longtime as they work their way through a lengthy ballot. we have that coming up for you next. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet.

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jenna: well the first showdown between the president and governor romney takes place on, well, we're going to show you a live picture, i hope. no, we don't have a live picture. we were going to have a live picture of the stage they will be taking in just a few hours. both candidates preparing for the big debate right now. as gregg, says, cramming away like college kids. ed henry is live, in fact at a university, the university of denver where these two gentlemen will take the stage. so, ed, you can't always prepare for the unexpected, right? the president has been off

the campaign trail. he is preparing for the big debate. but the vice president is out yesterday and said something that some suggest might come up in the debate tonight. why is that? >> reporter: yeah. a little bit of a slip-up because it took the president and obama team a little bit off message. you're right, when you talk to top obama officials the president has been sort of behind the scenes, mostly out of the public view. he did go to the hoover dam yesterday to get a quick tour because it is very close where he is staying in nevada with the debate prep, with senator john kerry playing mitt romney. when they talk to obama officials, what the president wants to do tonight tell the american people what is at stake. what is at stake for the middle class. what is at stake for the economy moving forward. it is all about in the president's eyes, helping the middle class. yet vice president biden was on the trail, suggesting that maybe the president's policies over the last four years haven't helped. take a listen. >> this is deadly ernest, man. this is deadly ernest. how they can justify, how

they can justify raising taxes on the middle class has been rush i -- buried last four years. how in lord's name can they justify raising their taxes? >> reporter: buried for the last four years. let's see now the last four years have been run by, the obama-biden ticket. that is why the vice president clarified at his next campaign stop he was in saying, meant to say that the middle class was buried the previous eight years by the bush-cheney economic policies. he believes that the romney-ryan ticket would double down on the policies, a point the president wants to make tonight but a point the vice president maybe didn't make so clearly yesterday. jenna: we all have our time lines out about when that took place, i guess, i'd. a rot lot of romney surrogates talked about the president in recent days. you sat down with one of them. regardless prepared anything biden tries to correct to use his own words.

how so? >> i sat down with marco rubio, florida senator, one of the most prominent hispanic politicians in america. that is significant in nevada because hispanic population could be pivotal. the hispanic population very important here in colorado, another important state that both sides desperately want. i think what senator rubio was trying to say in this sit down he thinks the message from mitt romney tonight should be very simple. take a listen. >> my pitch to voters is very simple. we can't afford four more years of barack obama. we can barely afford four more months. if we have four more years of bach barack obama we can't wait for years for economy to start growing. we can't wait four years to find jobs. can't wait four years for our houses to be worth what we paid for them. we can't wait four years for our kids to have a job after graduating college. >> maybe raising expectations from mitt romney. there could be a game change. there are republicans

concerned about raising the bar too high. marco rubio says no, he thinks that mitt romney is a strong debater and will show that tonight. speaking expectations, jenna. i hope i didn't upset you. went with purple. down the middle. didn't want to pick red or blue. jenna: i didn't think you would miss a opportunity. i notice nice connection to the handkerchief in the pocket. that is something we didn't delve into. >> reporter: might get them to use it. might help them. jenna: fashion plate, ed henry. gregg: trying to please everybody by split the difference. jenna: fair and balanced ode henry from the site of the debate. >> reporter: i appreciate that. gregg: no courage. jenna: oh, come on. gregg: just kidding you're really rough, man. gregg: all right. florida voters you will have to brace yourself because this year's ballot is the longest ever. just reading it could take folks 20 minutes in the voting booth. on the ballot are nearly a dozen complicated proposed amendments to their constitution. and there are already predictions of incredibly

long lines at the polls. there is mr. hanging chad himself, in that picture. but, steve harrigan joins us live now from miami. hi, steve. >> reporter: gregg, in some parts of florida this ballot alone will be 12 pages both sides. 11 constitutional amendments. they will be in english, spanish and creole. for a careful voter to just read the ballot could take on average 22 minutes. half an hour to vote could create long lines. people are concerned it could lead to dropout among voters. >> you get people who look at this long ballot. it is five, six, seven, eight, 12 pages long. they say that is too much for me to tackle. they get put off and don't go at all. people who might vote for president, senate, congress, suddenly look at this, it is much more daunting difficult task. now they're not going to do it at all. >> reporter: the florida lawmakers who designed this ballot are pushing back against the criticism. they say their ballot is an

example of pure democracy. >> they're criticizing us allowing voters to decide the future of their state constitution which is one of the most principle, one of the best principles of american jurisprudence and american democracy and american politics. >> reporter: to try to avoid long lines at the polls right now florida officials are urging people to vote by mail. some counties even offering to pay the dollar 50 poseage for the big ballots. gregg? gregg: we'll wait and see. steve harrigan live in miami. steve, thanks. jenna: whether it is bill clinton wagging that finger. you can't really do it like him. he has that down. gregg: he has that patented. jenna: or presidential candidate bob dole referring himself this the third person, presidential debates are full of unexpected and quite memorable moments. coming up we'll look at what most voters are likely to take away from tonight's debate. plus a look at who may be responsible for the deadly attack on our

consulate in benghazi. why the administration has yet to hunt down any of the top suspects. ally bank. why they're always there to talk. i love you, james. don't you love me? i'm a robot. i know. i know you're a robot! but there's more in you than just circuits and wires! uhhh. (cries) a machine can't give you what a person can. that's why ally has knowledgeable people there for you, night and day. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

jenna: well, who is behind the murder of four americans in benghazi including our ambassador to libya? as that question continues to plague this administration and the state department, there are reports pointing to a man named mohammed abu ahmad. he has known ties to al qaeda. where is he? why haven't all killers brought to justice? we'll talk to someone who knows the situation on the ground there. we have a research fellow from the new american foundation. this man, what should every american know about him? >> well basically, mohammed is the extremist among extremist. when egyp shun radicals responsible for the 1981 assassination of anwar sadat

agreed to sees fire in 1997 he refused to carry it out. he is obsessed with jihad one of the his associates told me. he remind me of the abu musab al-zarqawi and extreme radicalism. though he is public enemy number one we should not get ahead of ourselves. he is not a visionary like usama bin laden but a die-hard jihadist who wants to act. jenna: we don't even have a picture of him. this is not a name we know or been talking about over the last several months or several years. this is a new person to kind of get to know if you will. american officials said, listen he is not a threat here domestically. he is a threat overseas though potentially. do you agree with that? should americans feel confident in that assessment he is not a threat to us and our national security? >> the big dilemma with mohammed, we just don't have that much information about him. given what we do know about him he does not have the capabilities to act against the american homeland. his training camps are in libya and he attacked in libya.

that is probably the limit what he can do at this point in time. jenna: in libya. you spent months and months and months there, especially during the revolution. we're being told that the security situation on the ground is so bad that the fbi can't even get in there. that leads many of us to ponder that, we were just there several weeks ago and no one talked about the security situation. how can it be that dangerous and why can't we get in there? >> well the problem is the government says it is too dangerous for the fbi to investigate but that we do know that american journalists are visiting the consulate on a daily basis and there still is sensitive information inside the consulate if released could compromise americans on the ground. the american government is worried these jihadist, people responsible for the attack are still active and operating in the area. if the fbi does come, they could be vulnerable and exposed to more attacks. jenna: what is the cost for no reaction sew far? what do you think is the he

is imagine being sent to the people that have done this? >> if the united states does not act it risks losing deterrent factor which it threatens its ennis. it needs to reassure the american public that is is doing everything to insure safety. if it attacks it risks backlash among the libyan public and risks squandering the goodwill generated after helping loafer throw muammar qaddafi during the revolution. there is double-edged sword. jenna: why do you think that is important to us? in the past we hadn't talked about libya until the overthrow of qaddafi. why is the goodwill of the libyan people in your opinion to the united states? >> at this point in time our best ally is the libyan public. we can't rely on the libyan government which is not strong enough to move against these militias. two weeks ago we saw a rally that brought out 25 and 30,000 people against the militias an against ansar al-sharia which is the group many people are behind the

attacks. at the end of the night they stormed the brigade barracks. militia loyal to the government could not do this. they want anticipates. they want to help find these people. if the united states attacks at this point in time it will move the people against the united states and we won't have any help from people on the ground. jenna: do you think it would be best, you say that we can't trust the libyan government but we shouldn't necessarily attack. so what is the best way to bring these people to justice and maintain the important goodwill of the libyan people that you point out? >> at this point in time what the best option the united states has to work with certain militias in the east such as february 17th brigade, libyan shield brigade. who have relations with the libyan government and want to help the united states. some of the brigades were guarding the consulate at the time of the attack and came to rescue the americans in the consulate. they're the strongest brigades in the east. if we could possibly work with them to apprehend the suspects that would be the best option for the u.s. government. jenna: thank you for your

perspective. your knowledge on the ground is invaluable. thank you again for your time today. >> thanks for having me. gregg: all right, back to our top story as the candidates prepare for their first big debate tonight in denver. we're going to look back at some memorable moments from previous presidential debates. >> i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. [laughter] i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

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gregg: welcome back. the clock is ticking. in just a few hours millions of americans will be watching as president obama and governor romney take the stage in denver, colorado,

but as we look back at recent history, how much do the issues themselves actually matter in a presidential debate and what do people remember from these big events? william la jeunesse is live in los angeles with details. hi, william. >> reporter: what we remember, and what we will talk about tomorrow, gregg, likely won't be numbers or statistics or issues, moments often spontaneous that reveal something about the candidate's character or temperment. one reason for that what we as voters bring to the table. >> do we want four more years of trillion dollar deficits? >> no. >> reporter: while romney and obama sharpen their talking points -- >> we're cutting our deficit by $4 trillion, making sure everybody does it the right way. >> reporter: how much do voters really understand, debt versus deficit? what is the difference? >> debt is what we owe, what we're already in debt for. and the deficit, is what we are already owe, what we owe.

i don't know. >> they will talk about the fiscal cliff. do you know what that actually is? >> i do not of the have no include about that. >> i am from washington and have no clue. >> reporter: whabout medicare and medicaid? >> my parents do my health insurance. i know about abortion and gay marriage. >> less about details and policy but more what the kind of person a presidential candidate is. >> reporter: he says debates are often about impressions, not words. they remember gore's sighing and awkward body language and impatient george bush checking his watch. >> who am i? why am i here. >> reporter: and one-liners. >> jack kennedy was a friend of mind. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> i'm not going to exploit for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience [laughing] >> people translated statements and gestures into insight into a candidate's character. it's all about character.

>> reporter: now it is not that voters value style over substance but remember some of these other memorable moments. remember when reagan said, i paid for this microphone. michael dukakis said he would not support the death penalty even if his wife was raped or murdered. that can reveal in 10 seconds that make the other 90 minutes seem irrelative. gregg: gerry ford's 1976 comment about eastern europe and poland. boy, who can forget. william la jeunesse. thank you very much. >> after grounding eight planes after seats came loose, another scare on american airlines. this time passengers told to brace themselves for a crash landing. how that flight landed and the latest on american's attempts to avoid a strike

jenna: we're coming out with a lot of great combinations, what will the candidates wear, red or blue necktie or something completely different? we asked you what you liked on